Are sandbags, as in flood control, really full of sand? Seems like you
would have to have some clay content in order to stop water flow. Maybe
they should be called 'dirt bags' and not 'sand bags'.

Filled a five gallon bucket with clean sand. Cut the bottom out of the
bucket (it was busted anyway). Ran a garden hose full blast over the top
and never could get it hold water. Now I know if I had used plain old soil
the results would have been different. 'Sandbag' must simply be a misnomer.

Ivan Vegvary

On 2009-02-05, Ivan Vegvary wrote:
Are sandbags, as in flood control, really full of sand? Seems like you
would have to have some clay content in order to stop water flow. Maybe
they should be called 'dirt bags' and not 'sand bags'.

Filled a five gallon bucket with clean sand. Cut the bottom out of the
bucket (it was busted anyway). Ran a garden hose full blast over the top
and never could get it hold water. Now I know if I had used plain old soil
the results would have been different. 'Sandbag' must simply be a misnomer.

Sandbags reduce the flow by a dramatic number. They do not stop it
completely, but it is as good as if they did.

--
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to spammers, I and many others block all articles originating
from Google Groups. If you want your postings to be seen by
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Are sandbags, as in flood control, really full of sand?

You can fill them with whatever you want. I use them in the back of my
vehicles during winter to increase rear wheel traction. They are filled with
gravel. Less mess to clean up if one is busted open, and they don't hold as
much moisture. If the ice is really bad and i am in a hole, I can open one
and spread it in front of the wheels.
--
Stupendous Man,
Defender of Freedom, Advocate of Liberty

Ivan Vegvary wrote:
Are sandbags, as in flood control, really full of sand? Seems like you
would have to have some clay content in order to stop water flow. Maybe
they should be called 'dirt bags' and not 'sand bags'.

Filled a five gallon bucket with clean sand. Cut the bottom out of the
bucket (it was busted anyway). Ran a garden hose full blast over the
top and never could get it hold water. Now I know if I had used plain
old soil the results would have been different. 'Sandbag' must simply
be a misnomer.

Ivan Vegvary

They are filled with sand or very loose soil. They don't stop ALL water
but they cut down the flow a lot. If you look at a typical sandbag wall
you will find that they are laid 3-4 rows thick and tamped down.

--
Steve W.

On Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:14:20 GMT, "Ivan Vegvary"
wrote:

Are sandbags, as in flood control, really full of sand? Seems like you
would have to have some clay content in order to stop water flow. Maybe
they should be called 'dirt bags' and not 'sand bags'.

Filled a five gallon bucket with clean sand. Cut the bottom out of the
bucket (it was busted anyway). Ran a garden hose full blast over the top
and never could get it hold water. Now I know if I had used plain old soil
the results would have been different. 'Sandbag' must simply be a misnomer.

Ivan Vegvary
They do a good job stopping lead though.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

"Ivan Vegvary" wrote in
:

Are sandbags, as in flood control, really full of sand? Seems like
you would have to have some clay content in order to stop water flow.
Maybe they should be called 'dirt bags' and not 'sand bags'.

Filled a five gallon bucket with clean sand. Cut the bottom out of
the bucket (it was busted anyway). Ran a garden hose full blast over
the top and never could get it hold water. Now I know if I had used
plain old soil the results would have been different. 'Sandbag' must
simply be a misnomer.

Ivan Vegvary


You're forgetting one very important factor, Ivan: flood water is NOT
clean.

While sand is a standard water filtration medium due to its porosity, the
fact that flood water contains a high level of silt [think thin mud instead
of what you get from a garden hose] means that the front wall of a stack of
sandbags will quickly be covered by a layer of dirt/clay/???/manure/???
that will permit the channelling of the flood water elsewhere.

You're also forgetting the force exerted by the moving flood water - a
force that is far more than enough to wreck bridges, buildings, and nearly
any other man-made structure in its path. [Surely you remember the levees
in New Orleans.]

The deflection of this force is the primary function of the sandbag walls.

Think of a hole, say a foot by one foot inches.

How much floodwater can flow through this hole? Possibly a cubic foot
per second or much more.

Now close the hole with sandbags. How much would flow now? Probably a
lot less than a cup per second.

Ignoramus3187 wrote in
:

Think of a hole, say a foot by one foot inches.

How much floodwater can flow through this hole? Possibly a cubic foot
per second or much more.

Now close the hole with sandbags. How much would flow now? Probably a
lot less than a cup per second.


And when backed up by 3-5 added layers quite a lot less. grin

On Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:14:20 GMT in rec.crafts.metalworking, "Ivan
Vegvary" wrote,
Are sandbags, as in flood control, really full of sand? Seems like you
would have to have some clay content in order to stop water flow.

You fill them with whatever you have. However, you do *not* use them to
stop water flow. You use them to channel water to where you want it to
go, away from your structure. You *must* provide an outflow. Try to
dam it up and you will fail.

"Ivan Vegvary" wrote in message
...
Are sandbags, as in flood control, really full of sand? Seems like you
would have to have some clay content in order to stop water flow. Maybe
they should be called 'dirt bags' and not 'sand bags'.

Filled a five gallon bucket with clean sand. Cut the bottom out of the
bucket (it was busted anyway). Ran a garden hose full blast over the top
and never could get it hold water. Now I know if I had used plain old
soil the results would have been different. 'Sandbag' must simply be a
misnomer.

Ivan Vegvary

All the sandbag walls I've seen are pyramid shaped when looked at from the
side. If they weren't, the water would knock them down. But they still do
knock down even the pyramid shaped ones.

Steve